Utahns voice opposition to depleted uranium storage

Published: Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 6:45 p.m. MST

SALT LAKE CITY — A chorus of opposition to the storage of depleted uranium in Utah rang out Tuesday night during a public hearing on a proposed rule that would put in place additional restrictions.

The hearing, intended to gather input on those new restrictions, instead focused more on general outright opposition to storing the radioactive waste altogether.

"You err on the side of caution; you err on the side of protection," said Robert Henline, who added that it was "unfortunate he had to come before the board at all."

Provo resident Jeri Roos called depleted uranium "a very nasty waste."

"We may not understand all the science, but what matters is we don't want it," Roos said.

She said that for too long Utah has been "the dumping ground" for other states' radioactive material, and it's time to stop.

More stringent controls on site-specific storage conditions are being contemplated as EnergySolutions readies for two additional shipments that will bring the total amount of material to 10,500 tons destined for disposal at its Clive, Tooele County, facility.

Earlier this month, Gov. Gary Herbert ordered independent sampling of the first shipment of drums, which sits above ground pending the new restrictions being put into place.

Of concern is the nature of the low-level radioactive waste, which, while classified as Class A — or the least hot — has critics concerned because it grows hotter over time.

EnergySolutions landed a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to store 14,000 drums of the material in Clive, with the shipments originating at the Department of Energy's Savannah River site in South Carolina.
Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process.

The department says the major health concerns about DU relate to its chemical properties as a heavy metal, rather than its radioactivity, which is described as very "low."

But critics such as HEAL Utah have urged state regulators to go so far as to put a moratorium on any shipments of the material while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission goes through its own fact finding to establish site-specific storage conditions.

They argue that its current classification as Class A waste is faulty given so many unknowns and that depleted uranium is an inappropriate material to be stored at such shallow depth offered by EnergySolutions.

Additionally, because it reaches "peak" radioactivity at a million years, they contend that any storage conditions that don't anticipate those changes fall short of protecting public safety and the environment.

The proposed rule calls for performance assessments on storage that go out 10,000 years, and the company has agreed to extend its depth of cover for disposal, as well as install radon detectors.

In addition to the public hearing, written comments are being accepted on the proposed rule until the close of business Feb. 2. They can be sent to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Radiation Control, Room 212, Airport East Business Building, 168 N. 1950 West, Salt Lake City, UT, 84114-4850.

The rule can be reviewed at http://www.radiationcontrol.utah.gov/
Read more:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/705361246/Utahns-voice-opposition-to-depleted-uranium-storage.html